I've been wanting to jump on the Qobuz train instead of Tidal, especially since I do have a HUGO TT2 dac,so it doesn't handle MQA in the hardware level. Plus, I do like having the higher bit-rate/sample rate with Qobuz and Amazon Music HD.
I've been wanting to jump on the Qobuz train instead of Tidal, especially since I do have a HUGO TT2 dac,so it doesn't handle MQA in the hardware level. Plus, I do like having the higher bit-rate/sample rate with Qobuz and Amazon Music HD.
I am not convinced Tidal is provably better. When I ran a test is seemed pretty similar to Amazon HD. I ended up with Amazon because I like the ecosystem.
I used my Qobuz free trial last year and stuck with Tidal because Qobuz had many dealbreaking holes in its catalog. I've heard its improved this a lot, so I was trying to browse and was reminded of another reason I dropped Qubuz: the UI is a hot mess. Now, maybe I am missing something (in which case, I'd appreciate enlightenment) but I find it incredibly difficult to browse because Quobuz tosses the kitchen sink into an artist's library--albums, singles, even covers of the artist's material by other artists with no way that I can see to productively filter it or to even tell which is which. Generally, I only want to see albums. (The only thing I see is an option to sort by relevance or release date, neither of which really work.)
Tidal's UI is no gem, but it's far better than Qubuz and has slowly improved over the years. And as for Amazon Music HD? Qubuz's UI is perfection itself next to Amazon; I just can't deal with it.
I used my Qobuz free trial last year and stuck with Tidal because Qobuz had many dealbreaking holes in its catalog. I've heard its improved this a lot, so I was trying to browse and was reminded of another reason I dropped Qubuz: the UI is a hot mess. Now, maybe I am missing something (in which case, I'd appreciate enlightenment) but I find it incredibly difficult to browse because Quobuz tosses the kitchen sink into an artist's library--albums, singles, even covers of the artist's material by other artists with no way that I can see to productively filter it or to even tell which is which. Generally, I only want to see albums. (The only thing I see is an option to sort by relevance or release date, neither of which really work.)
Tidal's UI is no gem, but it's far better than Qubuz and has slowly improved over the years. And as for Amazon Music HD? Qubuz's UI is perfection itself next to Amazon; I just can't deal with it.
+1 on Qobuz's filtering/browsing being a mess. I actually started a trial yesterday, and their UI makes it impossible to browse through the albums of someone like Bob Dylan, since it includes every album that's got a Dylan cover on it, lol
I used my Qobuz free trial last year and stuck with Tidal because Qobuz had many dealbreaking holes in its catalog. I've heard its improved this a lot, so I was trying to browse and was reminded of another reason I dropped Qubuz: the UI is a hot mess. Now, maybe I am missing something (in which case, I'd appreciate enlightenment) but I find it incredibly difficult to browse because Quobuz tosses the kitchen sink into an artist's library--albums, singles, even covers of the artist's material by other artists with no way that I can see to productively filter it or to even tell which is which. Generally, I only want to see albums. (The only thing I see is an option to sort by relevance or release date, neither of which really work.)
Tidal's UI is no gem, but it's far better than Qubuz and has slowly improved over the years. And as for Amazon Music HD? Qubuz's UI is perfection itself next to Amazon; I just can't deal with it.
I used my Qobuz free trial last year and stuck with Tidal because Qobuz had many dealbreaking holes in its catalog. I've heard its improved this a lot, so I was trying to browse and was reminded of another reason I dropped Qubuz: the UI is a hot mess. Now, maybe I am missing something (in which case, I'd appreciate enlightenment) but I find it incredibly difficult to browse because Quobuz tosses the kitchen sink into an artist's library--albums, singles, even covers of the artist's material by other artists with no way that I can see to productively filter it or to even tell which is which. Generally, I only want to see albums. (The only thing I see is an option to sort by relevance or release date, neither of which really work.)
Tidal's UI is no gem, but it's far better than Qubuz and has slowly improved over the years. And as for Amazon Music HD? Qubuz's UI is perfection itse
Qobuz on Windows is horrible (constantly freezes and hangs up for me) and agree their catalog is a mess. You have to know what you are looking for. It is also horrible for discovery. However, their SQ with exclusive mode and UAPP integration is awesome and why I signed up for an annual Qobuz subscription even before my trial ended (and downgraded to Amazon Unlimited). I also recently discovered Qobuz works on my Logitech Squeezebox Touch, which allows me to bypass the Windows app and listen on my desktop setup while working at home.
Also, if you have issues, Qobuz will at least respond to your concerns/emails...unlike Amazon.
I've been wanting to jump on the Qobuz train instead of Tidal, especially since I do have a HUGO TT2 dac,so it doesn't handle MQA in the hardware level. Plus, I do like having the higher bit-rate/sample rate with Qobuz and Amazon Music HD.
I run Tidal M and Amazon HD from a little FiiO M6 and from a LG V30 and a Samsung S9 plus, and to me are fairly simple to use once you get used to them. They both sound great. Today I'm getting a Hiby R5 and already have good balanced cable, an ISN S16 (with a 2.5 to 4.4 adaptor). IMHO Amazon Ultra and Tidal Masters sound of equally good quality. They sound great using Urbanfun iss014, Moodrop Starfield or Blon 03s, upcabled and with Spiral Dot's large. Letting go and listening to the music sounds so really good, as music should be. I have no complaints about either platform or app.... they sound really high quality.
My understanding with Tidal without MQA DAC you're getting 24bit/96khz max whereas if you have MQA you'll get the 24bit/192Khz correct? Honestly, I'm not splitting hairs over that. I appreciate the 24bit for more dynamic range but with human hearing from 20-20k Hz technically 48Khz is sufficient. I enjoy my audio but I'm not that OCD. Just using a Hifiman Arya and it's night and day using both Tidal and Amazon Music HD when compared to the compressed stuff like Spotify and YouTube Music even without an MQA DAC.
I've been keen to trial Amazon Music HD vs Tidal HiFi, and just after I recently bought something on Amazon, I received an invite to trial Amazon Music Unlimited 90 days for free. Must be all of my recent searches for various audio gear lol.
Will AM 'Unlimited' let me trial the HD stuff? Or is that different again?
I've been keen to trial Amazon Music HD vs Tidal HiFi, and just after I recently bought something on Amazon, I received an invite to trial Amazon Music Unlimited 90 days for free. Must be all of my recent searches for various audio gear lol.
Will AM 'Unlimited' let me trial the HD stuff? Or is that different again?
I do not think you'd get access to HD content with that plan, Amazon Unlimited HD is a separate and more expensive plan that offers the HD and "Ultra HD" tracks.
I've been keen to trial Amazon Music HD vs Tidal HiFi, and just after I recently bought something on Amazon, I received an invite to trial Amazon Music Unlimited 90 days for free. Must be all of my recent searches for various audio gear lol.
Will AM 'Unlimited' let me trial the HD stuff? Or is that different again?
Its separate. HD costs $5/ month on top of whichever plan you have. Not sure if Amazon will let you add HD to a trial but doesn't hurt to call them up and ask them (worst they can say is no right?). When HD first came out, I was on an Amazon Unlimited trial and I was able to sign up for the HD trial anyway. I had too many issues with Amazon Music HD so I downgraded back to Amazon Unlimited a few months after my trial ended and got Qobuz (Amazon actually refunded my annual fee but let me keep my Amazon Unlimited service for my troubles). Hopefully they have addressed a lot of the issues. Their product may not quite be there yet but their customer service is great if you get the right people.
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